3rd Dragoon Guards

The 3rd Dragoon Guards violently suppressing the Bristol Riots of 1831

The regiment was first raised by Thomas Hickman-Windsor, 1st Earl of Plymouth as the Earl of Plymouth's Regiment of Horse in 1685 as part of the response to the Monmouth Rebellion, by the regimenting of various independent troops, and was ranked as the 4th Regiment of Horse.[2] The regiment saw action at the Battle of Schellenberg in July 1704, the Battle of Blenheim in August 1704, the Battle of Ramillies in May 1706, the Battle of Oudenarde in July 1708 and the Battle of Malplaquet in September 1709 during the War of the Spanish Succession.[3] In 1746 it was ranked as the 3rd Dragoon Guards, and formally titled in 1751 as the 3rd Regiment of Dragoon Guards.[2]

Shortly thereafter, in 1765, it took the title 3rd (Prince of Wales's) Dragoon Guards, for the future George IV.[2] It took part in the suppression of the Bristol riots in 1831 and, after service in India, took part in the British Expedition to Abyssinia in 1868.[3] The regiment was employed chasing the elusive General Christiaan de Wet in spring 1901 during the Second Boer War.[4]

Uniform of the 3rd Dragoon Guards in 1838

The regiment, which was in Cairo at the start of First World War, landed in France as part of the 6th Cavalry Brigade in the 3rd Cavalry Division in October 1914 for service on the Western Front[5] where it fought at the First Battle of Ypres in October 1914, the Second Battle of Ypres in April 1915 and the Battle of Cambrai in November 1917.[3]

It retitled as 3rd Dragoon Guards (Prince of Wales's) in 1921, and was amalgamated with the 6th Dragoon Guards (Carabiniers) to form the 3rd/6th Dragoon Guards the following year.[2][6]

The regimental collection is held in the Cheshire Military Museum at Chester Castle.[7] Some items are also held by the Royal Scots Dragoon Guards Museum at Edinburgh Castle.[8]

The regiment was awarded the following battle honours:[2]

• Early Wars: Blenheim, Ramillies, Oudenarde, Malplaquet, Warburg, Beaumont, Willems, Talavera, Albuhera, Vittoria, Peninsula, Abyssinia, South Africa 1901–02.[9]
• The Great War: Ypres 1914, 1915, Nonne Bosschen, Frezenberg, Loos, Arras 1917, Scarpe 1917, Somme 1918, St. Quentin, Avre, Amiens, Hindenburg Line, Beaurevoir, Cambrai 1918, Pursuit to Mons, France and Flanders 1914–18.[10]

The Commanding Officers have been:[11]

• 1958–1960: Lt.-Col. J. M. Ashton
• 1960–1962: Lt.-Col. George P. Badham
• 1962–1965: Lt.-Col. Edward I. Stanford
• 1965–1967: Lt.-Col. William R. B. Allen
• 1967–1970: Lt.-Col. Henry S. L. Dalzell-Payne
• 1970–1971: Lt.-Col. Anthony J. Bateman

The colonels of the regiment were as follows:[2]

1685 4th Regiment of Horse

4th Regiment of Horse, 1687

Memorial to General Cornelius Wood, colonel of the regiment from 1693 to 1712, at St Leonard's Church in Buckinghamshire

• 1685 Thomas, Earl of Plymouth —Windsor's or The Earl of Plymouth's Regiment of Horse
• 1687 Sir John Fenwick —Sir John Fenwick's Horse
• 1688 Richard, Earl Rivers —Savage's or Earl Rivers' Horse
• 1693 John, Lord Berkeley —Lord Berkeley's Horse
• 1693 Cornelius Wood —Wood's Horse
• 1712 Thomas, Viscount Windsor —Lord Windsor's Horse
• 1717 George Wade —Wade's Horse

• British cavalry during the First World War

• Chant, Christopher (18 October 2013). The Handbook of British Regiments (Routledge Revivals). Routledge. ISBN 978-1-134-64724-8.
• HMSO (13 February 2012). Battle Honours Awarded for the Great War. Andrews UK Limited. ISBN 978-1-78150-187-0.